Note: Writing this at the same time as Limitless Potential so expect the two to be updated close together.
Thank you for reading!
"Hm?" Ice Man peeked out from the small cavern entrance, seeing no one in particular among the shadows.
Still, if that was the case, then where did that noise come from…?!
BOINK!
A sizable rock met the back of his dome, crushing his helmet and rendering him momentarily unconscious, albeit still muttering sweet nothings related to "Mega's Sister."
She still had no idea what that was about.
"Good work, Eddie." Natsenka congratulated, although the energy dispenser didn't appear as eager to answer back as before. It didn't take her long to process as to why his mood had soured, yet ultimately pushed it back. After all, the mission had to be completed. And, judging from the sight of the red-dressed figure locked in the cell Ice Man was guarding, it appeared she had done just that.
"Kalinka" turned her head when she heard someone, presumably Ice Man, collapse outside, yet her apprehension quickly turned into relief upon seeing just who had happened upon her.
"Are you injured in any way?" the redheaded agent questioned the blonde. Huh, she thought. Compared to what her internal database displayed, Cossack's daughter appeared…different. And yet…wait.
Eddie's eyes, once melancholy and downcast, lit up immediately upon seeing just who was in the cage, Natsenka was soon able to see past the familiar red coat and Cossack hat, noticing how Kalinka's hair appeared much straighter than in her initial reference photos.
"Roll!" Eddie cried out, clearly overjoyed at the sight of the found prisoner, leaving Natsenka even more confused, yet slowly realizing what was going on.
"Eddie?" the "Russian" asked, her green eyes suddenly removed from her optics, revealing a sapphire-blue iris modeled after the human eye, yet still bore a sense of artificiality to its appearance.
Just the same as the agent's own dark visual receptors.
"And Nat! You're here too!" the "Kalinka" in the cage greeted the redhead with a grin, the accent she initially held dying the second she recognized just who had arrived to her cage. "It looks like you're ok too," she said, viewing the dark-clad agent over. "I'm glad," she then turned to the green energy dispenser. "Been taking care of her, Eddie?"
"Yep, yep!" Eddie responded with a small mock salute, despite possessing no arms.
"I…" Natsenka stammered, her processor trying to comprehend just what, no, who was in front of her, separated by aged iron bars. "I don't…understand," she said. "If you're here, then…then where is…?"
Observation Deck
Upon feeling the sensation of softness against his palm as he pressed down on her shoulder, Albert Wily came to realize that, not only had he come upon an intruder that had broken into the Observation Deck, but they had also not been who he initially suspected it to be!
"Wha…but…but how did you…?" the balding scientist stuttered, the Roll-doppelganger before him that was a disguised Kalinka staring at him wide-eyed, she too trying to figure out just what to do. "You're supposed to be…but, if you're here, then…?!"
Needless to say, it didn't take long for the younger of the two humans to take action.
"OOOOHHHFF!"
In a panic, "Roll" proved Dr. Wily's theory by slamming her fist directly into his stomach, sending the old man to his knees and then to the ground while she burst out of the door and started running.
Hearing all this from the battle arena certainly gave the three robots inside a new dilemma to worry about.
Skull Man's Chamber
"Doc?!" Proto Man called out, only receiving moans of pain and shuffling to try and get up in response. "Oh man…" the robot paled, beginning to realize that perhaps he hadn't exactly made the best move in doing this.
Still…if Wily had just let him fight his brother, then none of this would've happened! His scarf wouldn't have been ripped had he not been put in charge of watching her, so…so this thing wasn't his fault!
Of course, where the blame fell didn't exactly rest at the forefront of either Mega or Skull Man's minds, the two machines immediately understood that Kalinka's safety was now in more potential jeopardy than ever. The Blue Bomber was about to try and look for an exit outside of the platform, yet Wily's voice came up on the intercom, stopping everyone in their tracks.
"Don't try it, blue boy!" the scientist warned. "Any attempt to get to me will result in letting Cossack's new toys out on New York! And then the rest of the country!" Mega Man didn't respond, lips tightening. "Dr. Cossack is already waiting for you, and it seems Skull Man won't be going anywhere for some time," the platform serving as the only means of leaving conventionally activated, its pale light seemingly beckoning the Blue Bomber. "If you care anything about his child, then I suggest you hurry."
Mega Man said nothing, glancing at Proto, then at Skull Man, giving each a few moments of silence before going to the transportation device and teleporting out of the chamber, leaving the two machines alone with each other.
Dr. Wily seemed to have gone, and no answer came from the speakers above.
Mine
"Hm?" Natsenka, Eddie, and "Kalinka" looked in the direction of the voice, the tone and cadence of a far more refined and flamboyant than that of Ice Man. "What's all this?"
"Shoot!" the recently revealed Roll hissed, immediately trying to find a weakness in the bars. "I don't suppose you've got anything on you that's useful for unlocking stuff, right?" she asked the Russian agent with a weak smile.
Before the redhead could even respond, Eddie piped up with a frightened squeak when two shadows made themselves known, Natsenka whirling around to find both Elec and a newly awakened Ice Man standing before her.
Skull Man's Chamber
"...well?"
Proto Man was startled upon hearing the sudden voice of the newly built Robot Master, turning to see the skeletal android still partially paralyzed and on the ground. "Well, what?" the red and grey machine asked, startled, yet also confused as to what exactly he could want.
"Go collect her." Skull Man said plainly, throwing the other robot for a loop.
"You can't be serious," Proto Man laughed, unbelieving at what he had just heard. "You, you're not-"
"I've never been more serious," the other android snarled. "Kalinka has escaped due to our intervention, and now roams around, unprotected," he said. "And since you've rendered me temporarily out of commission, and your brother is busy with her father," his ruby red optics narrowed. "There's no one else but you left to deal with her."
Mine
"That's not Cossack's daughter, you idiot!" Elec Man shouted, slapping the Innuit-based Robot Master on the back of the head. "Her hair and facial features are nothing like the Blue Dolt's youngest sibling!"
"Hey, don't call my brother a Dolt, you Yellow-Bellied Creep!" Roll shot back at the electricity-wielding machine, indignant at the insult directed toward Mega.
"Actually, it's red, thank you," Elec Man corrected. "Too much yellow would be overwhelming."
"Oh really?" Roll questioned sarcastically.
"Yes. Besides," the electricity-wielding Robot Master continued, fingers becoming engulfed with a freshly brewed charge. "If I'm going to be brilliant, then I prefer to cover all areas," the surges began to grow, his attention turned toward Natsenka. "Speaking of, dare I say, I think your hair would look divine when it's fried black!"
A bolt of lightning was sent in the agent's direction, the redhead just barely managing to dodge the incoming blast, along with Eddie.
Landing on the ground, Natsenka pushed the green robot to the side out of the way while she drew out her pistol and began firing, all shots sent in Elec Man's direction. The red, black, and golden Robot Master got into position and dodged the incoming shots, all the while firing back at the Russian agent with bolts of lighting and high-powered electrical charges, all of which just barely managed to strike the other robot, if not for her continuous movement.
Still, she couldn't continue this forever, she knew. Elec Man was ultimately too fast for her to evade the entire time. Still, she was in this now, there was no going back. She had to complete the mission.
Even if Roll was right there.
"I'll assist you in your endeavor, soldier!" Ice Man proclaimed, firing a freshly brewed wave of frosty liquid nitrogen and other chemical compounds in Natsenka's direction, who had found herself near the bars of Roll's cell. The Ice Breath coated a good area of the rods that held up the structure of the cage, both Roll and the redhead getting out of the way of the incoming blast. Still, afterward, both of them couldn't help but note how oddly fragile the portions of iron bars appeared now, rendered to crystalized splendor that, while pretty, was far less durable.
"Hey, watch it!" Roll shouted, just barely managing to dodge Ice Man's attack. "You nearly froze my hair to the wall!"
"Oh, pardon my recklessness, sir," Ice Man responded, albeit not without some additions. "Oh, I mean, ma'am!"
Of course, it was then that the blonde robot realized that the Robot Master had hit the cell's locking system, spotting that the frozen nitrogen crystals eroded and essentially rendered the programming useless. She couldn't help but wonder. "Hey, Natsenka," she whispered, catching the redhead's attention. "How hard can you deliver a punch?"
The Russian agent didn't entirely understand the legitimacy, let alone the reason for such a question to come up, yet she ultimately answered nevertheless. "Around the average force of Eastern Europe's highest-rated pro-boxers. Why?"
Roll glanced at the other half of her locking mechanism, still unaffected by the ice outside. She gave it a light touch and received a mild shock. "Well, I hate to say it, but I don't think that it'll work from my end."
"I'm not sure as to what exactly you're referring to," just as Natsenka understood what Roll meant upon seeing the frozen outside half of the lock, a certain electricity-wielding robot made his presence known again. "But if you're thinking of letting our prisoner escape, then I'm afraid I'll have to deliver some shocking news!"
Skull Man's Chamber
"Wait, what?" Proto Man questioned aloud, almost doubting what he was hearing.
Yet the other Robot Master was neither mistaken nor in any sort of humorous mood. "You heard what I said," he answered bluntly. "I'm incapacitated, and thus, unable to move," he explained as if his fellow high-tech machine was a child. "Your brother is on his way to deal with Dr. Cossack, and I assume that Wily is already planning something of a plan B in case this fails. So," he concluded. "The only one available to tend to Kalinka Cossack is you."
The red and gray machine stood in silence for a few moments, although only a few, as he soon broke out into laughter, as if the other android had just said something outlandish.
"This is no joke, fool," Skull Man remarked. "I'm being completely serious."
"And that's what makes it funny!" Proto responded. "You actually think I'd go pick the brat up and bring her back here!"
"There is no one else!" Skull Man argued. "You must!"
"Yeah, don't think so, bone-head," the Robot Master with flesh answered. "Little cretin ripped this baby here," he gestured to his scarf. "For all I care she can take a hike and freeze to death!"
Skull Man clenched his fists, and not from the paralyzing electricity. "You have no regard for The First Law?"
"Not really," Proto proclaimed. "Besides, if she goes and gets herself killed, it's not my problem."
The skeletal Robot Master was inwardly fuming, practically a raging volcano on the brink of eruption, yet the last portion of what Proto Man had said intrigued him.
"Not your problem, you say?" Skull Man questioned.
"Exactly," Proto responded. "She's basically on her own right now."
The other android's Ruby red optics shut, contemplating his next words carefully. "…interesting."
The red and gray robot quirked a brow from beneath his thickened visor. "Interesting how?"
"That you think this has nothing to do with you."
Proto folded his arms. "That's because it doesn't!" He answered. "I never wanted to be part of this stupid plan involving Cossack or his brat in the first place! There's no reason Wily can't let me fight my brother at any point during this!"
Skull Man huffed in amusement. "You say it has nothing to do with you," he said. "But I doubt Wily will see things that way."
The other skin-covered (at least facially) robot was puzzled. "Hey, I told Cut and Guys Man to send up my sis, it's not my fault they…" he then paused. "Wait a minute," he then pointed an accusing finger in Skull Man's direction. "You knew, didn't you?" He asked, the other machine's silence serving as an answer enough.
"It's not my fault you didn't notice," Skull Man told him plainly. "And you can't prove anything happened between the child and I," he said. "However," he continued. "I can prove that your actions resulted in the plan being sabotaged."
Proto went silent for a few moments before scoffing dismissively. "I only gave you a light shock. It'll wear off eventually," he answered. "Besides, my brother and I fight whenever he's doing something big like this," he explained. "Wily knows it's what we do."
"At the expense of the entire operation?" Skull Man questioned. "I doubt it."
"Well, whatever! Mega's going to fight Cossack anyway, isn't he? So what's the problem?"
"The child is out there!"
"Why are you calling her that? She's not some kid!" Proto retorted. "And it's not like you were around when she was even one! What, just because Cossack had a hand in making you, you think you're like the others?"
Skull Man went silent, Proto's comeback seemingly having an unintended effect on the other Robot Master.
"…well…either way, it doesn't matter!" The red and gray machine huffed, turning his nose up in the air. "I'm not going to have anything further to do with that stupid brat, and that's final!"
Mine
A stray bolt nicked her thigh when she, once again, leaped out of the way of an incoming attack.
Only now, it seemed Elec Man was getting better with his aim.
From her place on the ground, Natsenka saw her goal mere feet away from her, frozen outside of the locking mechanism. Yet a few feet more, and there stood the one intent on ending her life.
"Must we continue this unnecessary dance?" The black, red, and gold Robot Master questioned. "As fun as it's been watching you fight for your right to existence, I find it beginning to grow old."
Natsenka rose to her feet, getting into position. "Then why not finish it?" She proposed. "I've been getting tired of listening to that smarmy tone coming from your vocals."
The electricity-wielding android narrowed his gaze, intensifying the already-charged sparks growing at his fingertips. "Gladly."
Sending forth a wave of high-powered lightning, the redheaded agent found that the bolts were spread too wide and branched off in too many directions, and soon, she could outmaneuver their movements no more.
Yet, in that moment, her last-minute motion had more of an impact than she could've possibly imagined.
Before a branching electrical bolt made contact with her form and gave her systems quite a literal shock, the Russian agent performed a karate chop on the frozen half of the electronic lock, the motion stopped prematurely from delivering the full force intended behind the attack.
Yet, it was enough to make contact.
Natsenka's artificial flesh touched the surface of the lock and sent Elec Man's own power surging through her, which, in turn, went to the other side of the mechanism, the unfrozen section that was still quite receptive to electronic input.
BOOM!
Especially if the charge proved to be too much of one.
Roll stepped back as the lock quite literally exploded, sending bits and pieces of the device flying in various directions, smoke momentarily blinding the blonde's optics, the disguised robot stumbling through the cell door as the dark vapor began to fill the chamber.
"Hey, are you ok?" Roll questioned Natsenka, helping the red-haired agent to rise to a standing position.
Not expecting the blonde's sudden appearance, let alone getting free from her prison, Natsenka was speechless at first, barely able to string together a complete sentence outside of "I…how did you…?"
"Oh, I do hope you don't plan on leaving," Elec Man said, seemingly disappointed before a gleeful grin came to his features. "After all, seeing as you're not human, I can see how much it takes until you pop like that lock!"
"S-Sir, wait!"
"What the…?!"
Just as Elec Man was about to deliver another blow against the two other machines, he found his arm suddenly growing cold and numb, all sensation being lost in its function, Ice Man having just reached out to take hold of the extended appendage.
Seeing the opportunity presented to them, Roll took Eddie in one hand and supported Natsenka with the other, running out of the small area and into the further depths of the mine.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Elec Man questioned Ice Man, more than a little flabbergasted at the other Robot Master's actions.
"S-Sorry, sir! But…" the other Robot Master stammered. "But…she's…"
"She's not Kalinka, you fool! Or did you already forget that!?"
"No, sir! It's just…"
"Whatever! It doesn't matter!" Elec Man rolled his eyes from beneath his mask. Steadily thawing out his arm, he then looked in the direction the three other robots had escaped in. "We can't let them reach the surface! We can't let them get the word out!"
Skull Man's Chamber
"...nothing further?" Skull Man questioned. "Is that right?"
"Right," Proto Man answered. "Sooner she's out of the way, the better."
Skull Man closed his optics, pondering on just how he could swing this in his favor. True, it was clear that he wouldn't convince the red and gray machine with pathos. At least, none that didn't relate to himself.
…maybe he didn't have to change his tactic much after all.
"Then what of her father?" Skull Man questioned. "What of Dr. Wily?"
Proto Man raised a brow from underneath his visor. "What of her old man? Or mine?" he asked.
"Both will have rather displeased reactions upon hearing that she's in potential danger," he said. "Besides, especially now that Mega Man is involved, it's imperative that we find her first."
"Then someone else can do that!" Proto argued. "Cossack brought back everyone, right? She's sure to bump into someone along the way!"
"And if she doesn't?"
"She's got to!"
"If she doesn't?"
"Why does it matter if she does or doesn't? It's not like she's going anywhere!"
"Exactly."
This single-word response caught Proto off guard. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Skull Man repeated. "Think about it," he continued. "This fortress is in the middle of Siberia, and the only village nearby is hundreds of miles away. Should she happen to escape this place, there would be nowhere for her to escape to before the elements claim her."
Proto shrugged. "So? All the more reason to not bother tailing after her. There's nowhere for her to go."
"She won't see it that way," the skeletal Robot Master retorted. "If your existence with Wily is any indication, surely you would've realized by now that humans aren't exactly the most logical of creatures when under duress," he explained. "And I'd concur that she'll be doing anything she can to get to her father," he said. "Even if she perhaps has to get help from the outside herself."
Proto said nothing.
"And, should something unfortunate happen to befall her, then who do you think will be held responsible for this?" Skull Man questioned.
"None of this is my fault," the red and gray machine retorted. "If Wily had just let me get in at least one round with my bro, then-"
"Then what? You wouldn't have jeopardized my battle? Brought her up to repair your scarf?" he then narrowed his optics. "Allow her to slip by because you were so focused on a singular goal, nothing else mattered to you?"
More silence, something the scarf-wearing machine was beginning to not exactly care for.
"...fine, FINE!" he finally exclaimed after those darned optics bored into his. "I'll go see where the brat's gone to!" he admitted. "If I can find her."
Skull Man narrowed his eyes, ruby red irises glinting dangerously. "For your own sake, you best hope you find her soon."
Note: Alert me of any errors I may have missed! Thank you!